Portlet-based user interfaces are quickly becoming very common for use in web sites as well as in web-based administrative consoles. Problems have been encountered in the shift to portlet-based user interfaces. In particular, known methods and apparatus for implementing portlet capability in graphical user interfaces lack both means for graphically indicating relationships among related portlets, and controls for managing operations concerning related portlets.
A common situation where this is encountered occurs when a graphical user interface displays multiple base (“parent”) portlets, where each of the parent portlets can launch multiple sub-portlets (“child”). In such situations, after having launched one or more child sub-portlets, it may be difficult for a user to preserve the relation in her mind between parent portlets and child sub-portlets. This is particularly true because no visual cues are provided to the user to indicate relations between or among multiple portlets and sub-portlets.
An example of portlet management in accordance with the prior art is depicted in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 depicts a page 100 containing two parent portlets 110 and 120. After a child sub-portlet 112 is surfaced from parent portlet 110, there is no cue provided indicating whether the child sub-portlet 112 is related to parent portlet 110 or 120. The situation becomes even more confusing when a child sub-portlet 122 is surfaced from parent portlet 120. The lack of visual cues becomes particularly bothersome when the user desires to simplify the page by submerging one of the child sub-portlets. Without careful examination of the surfaced child sub-portlets, the user might inadvertently submerge the wrong child sub-portlet.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art desire methods and apparatus that provide visual cues which indicate the relationship among parent portlets and child sub-portlets. In particular, such methods and apparatus would enable a user to quickly perceive from visual cues provided by graphical features the relationships between and among parent portlets and child sub-portlets.
In addition, those skilled in the art desire methods and apparatus that enable users to quickly expand and collapse peer sub-portlets. Such functionality would make long multi-portlet pages more manageable upon collapsing, and then allow a user to quickly and easily surface them for display later.